HOLA!!!
It´s been a little over 24 hours since I´ve landed in Barcelona. I´ve recovered quickly from jetlag....but have yet to get over how little Spanish I know- thankfully I´m good at charades.
My flight left Dulles airport at 6:45 est on Thursday. Before take-off I ran into my previous roommate´s (Kristin Deitos) younger brother who works there (TSA junior). Funny coincidence. She had been able to finagle business class to Rome, while I flew coach...with a layover. I also was fortunate enough to be selected for the random special screening and baggage search, which separated me from my travel buddy, Josh Humphries. I was put through an Ionizing Smith machine that blew jets of air over my body, messing up my hair :( They swabbed my carry on baggage to check for chemicals and they went through my checked baggage, which I didn´t notice until I picked it up in Barcelona. After my VIP treatment I was shuttled over to my terminal to meet the rest of my group.
Seventeen students from Catholic are in the Barcelona Architecture program, and 8 of us from the DC/Virginia area de
cided to meet at Dulles. Before reunited with my group I tried to make it over to Deanna Murphy´s (another of my previous roommates going to Rome) terminal to say good-bye before her flight left at 4:50. Alas, I was too late and the plane had finished boarding so I abandoned my good intentions and trucked back to my gate. Our group sat waiting for takeoff, sad because of the family and significant others left behind, but excited about the adventure ahead. We boarded and sat within proximity of each other on the 747. I was able to move next to Travis Akiwowo, one of my classmates, who provided a nice shoulder for me to sleep on.
We arrived at Heathrow a few minutes ahead of schedule on Friday morning without any major occurrences. London was rainy and dreary looking, sadly stereotypical. We met up with another hunk of our group that had flown out of Newark. Now we were 14 strong. Since the pound is kicking the dollar´s butt we sat patiently eyeing and occasionally browsing the unaffordable shopping of the airport until our flight left.
It was a short 2 hour flight to Barcelona and I slept through the whole thing, except when I woke for a brief period when the kid behind me discovered how to open and slammed the shade to his window to a beat in his own head. Luckily the parents intervened shortly after his discovery. Also, on our flight was the Great Britain national field hockey team. I talked briefly to one of the players and I´m hoping to see them play Barcelona sometime this weekend right outside the city. We´ll see.
Baggage claim went smoothly, we exchanged money and then hopped in a caravan of taxis to our studio space in the center of the city. We rent a space from BMP Architects right next to the Universitat de Barcelona. Its a wonderful area bordering the old city with the 19th century planning and expansion of the city. Our apartment is literally right around the corner from the studio and within a block of anything we´d need- bank, Internet, grocery, shoes....etc.
We meet our primary professors from Catholic, Christina Cole and Eric Jenkins, at our studio space to be briefed on schedule and get our apartment keys. We circled the block, passing our apartments on the first time. We probably looked like dumb Americans, lugging our suitcases. Finally, I asked a woman in broken Spanish how to get to our apartment. She wasn´t helpful. A second kind Samaritan figured out that the ceramic tiles above the stores indicated the street number....whoops. We found our entrance and decided it wasn´t our fault that we had overlooked this because our building is partly under construction. We took over the lift and begin transporting our luggage up to the 6th floor. On our second trip some of the other residents of the building where peeved we were monopolizing the only elevator in the building. They snuck in with myself and some luggage. After glaring at me I smiled sweetly and said ¨Hola." I then explained that I was a student and we were moving in. After listening to my poor Spanish the woman asked if I was American. Damn. Easy to spot I guess. Well now Conchinta and I are on amiable terms and if I ever need anything I can mosey on over. So obviously we´re not the worst thing that has happened to the apartment.
Finally, I´m able to load my stuff into the apartment. There´s six girls in the 4 bedroom, 1.5 bath apartment. It was just refurbished and in great condition. I share a room with Hawra Esmaeil who is originally from Kuwait. After some rearranging of the furniture and a quick shower, I pass out on my bed, while the rest of the girls explore the city a bit. I wake up with fabulous bedhead and hear that the girls have returned from their first adventure. They were pleasantly surprised to find that right next to the door to our apartment is a liquor store and I walked into the living room to find them toasting with a local brand of wine. I joined in after putting some decent clothes on and eradicating my messy hair. We finished preparing for our first night out and then meet our entire group (minus Nick Valentino who wouldn´t arrive until Saturday) at studio.
Trying not to be ridiculously loud and obviously American, we followed our two professors to a small restaurant a few blocks away tucked behind a market. We were shown an upstairs private room, probably to 
keep us away from the more mild mannered guests. Eric´s wife, Adrian, joined us and we begin bonding over sangria and ¨pan con tomato,¨a toasted bread with oil that is smeared with tomato. Adrian made us practice our Spanish by introducing each other to her. We laughed as we stumbled through our ¨mucho gustos¨and ¨encantandos.¨
Christy, knowing the most Spanish, ordered for all of us. We shared family style, sampling a local fish that I didn´t catch the name of, sausage over roasted vegetables, and pieya, a popular Spanish rice dish with squid, chicken and mussels.
Stacey Carbone, one of my current roommates, fought sleep the entire meal, truly entertaining. By the end of the meal most of the group was feeling the time difference. We left the restaurant ready to sleep and awaken in this beautiful city. We walked up Los Ramblos, past the closed down kiosks and an entrepreneurial fellow asking if I wanted any hash (legal in Barcelona btw). We showed the rest of the group our apartment before sending them on their way. After a brief surge in energy and discussion, we headed to bed.
I woke up at 5 a.m. unable to sleep. My pillow was to big and there was music coming from downstairs. I wandered into the kitchen to get a drink of water. Sipping the slightly saline tap water I looked out the window to see the glowing ¨castle¨at the top of the mountain above the city. Later we would find out that our dream home was really a basilica. The cityscape was beautiful though and I settled back to bed.
By 9:55 we were out the door to meet everyone at the studio for the beginning of our immersion day. They treated us top Dunkin Donuts, truly the pinnacle of civilization, and fruit. After scaring us with tales of pick pockets, club drugs, and general dislike for Americans, we ventured through the city with our professors as guides, pointing out stores where we could get cell phones (I´m installing Skype as soon as I get my laptop back for anyone who wants to talk), frozen food, computer repair, etc. We walked up La Rambla again and this time it was filled with performers, kiosk selling pets, flowers, foods, and trashy magazines. We wandered through the market and eventually ended up at the 4 story mega art and supply store- a Mecca for designers and artists.
After browsing we split up and Hawra and I went grocery shopping. After getting some necessities and unloading at our apartment I came back to this cute Internet hub around the corner to contact my family that I had neglected and regal my tales of Barcelona.
La Rambla!
It´s been a little over 24 hours since I´ve landed in Barcelona. I´ve recovered quickly from jetlag....but have yet to get over how little Spanish I know- thankfully I´m good at charades.
My flight left Dulles airport at 6:45 est on Thursday. Before take-off I ran into my previous roommate´s (Kristin Deitos) younger brother who works there (TSA junior). Funny coincidence. She had been able to finagle business class to Rome, while I flew coach...with a layover. I also was fortunate enough to be selected for the random special screening and baggage search, which separated me from my travel buddy, Josh Humphries. I was put through an Ionizing Smith machine that blew jets of air over my body, messing up my hair :( They swabbed my carry on baggage to check for chemicals and they went through my checked baggage, which I didn´t notice until I picked it up in Barcelona. After my VIP treatment I was shuttled over to my terminal to meet the rest of my group.
Seventeen students from Catholic are in the Barcelona Architecture program, and 8 of us from the DC/Virginia area de
cided to meet at Dulles. Before reunited with my group I tried to make it over to Deanna Murphy´s (another of my previous roommates going to Rome) terminal to say good-bye before her flight left at 4:50. Alas, I was too late and the plane had finished boarding so I abandoned my good intentions and trucked back to my gate. Our group sat waiting for takeoff, sad because of the family and significant others left behind, but excited about the adventure ahead. We boarded and sat within proximity of each other on the 747. I was able to move next to Travis Akiwowo, one of my classmates, who provided a nice shoulder for me to sleep on.
We arrived at Heathrow a few minutes ahead of schedule on Friday morning without any major occurrences. London was rainy and dreary looking, sadly stereotypical. We met up with another hunk of our group that had flown out of Newark. Now we were 14 strong. Since the pound is kicking the dollar´s butt we sat patiently eyeing and occasionally browsing the unaffordable shopping of the airport until our flight left.It was a short 2 hour flight to Barcelona and I slept through the whole thing, except when I woke for a brief period when the kid behind me discovered how to open and slammed the shade to his window to a beat in his own head. Luckily the parents intervened shortly after his discovery. Also, on our flight was the Great Britain national field hockey team. I talked briefly to one of the players and I´m hoping to see them play Barcelona sometime this weekend right outside the city. We´ll see.
Baggage claim went smoothly, we exchanged money and then hopped in a caravan of taxis to our studio space in the center of the city. We rent a space from BMP Architects right next to the Universitat de Barcelona. Its a wonderful area bordering the old city with the 19th century planning and expansion of the city. Our apartment is literally right around the corner from the studio and within a block of anything we´d need- bank, Internet, grocery, shoes....etc.We meet our primary professors from Catholic, Christina Cole and Eric Jenkins, at our studio space to be briefed on schedule and get our apartment keys. We circled the block, passing our apartments on the first time. We probably looked like dumb Americans, lugging our suitcases. Finally, I asked a woman in broken Spanish how to get to our apartment. She wasn´t helpful. A second kind Samaritan figured out that the ceramic tiles above the stores indicated the street number....whoops. We found our entrance and decided it wasn´t our fault that we had overlooked this because our building is partly under construction. We took over the lift and begin transporting our luggage up to the 6th floor. On our second trip some of the other residents of the building where peeved we were monopolizing the only elevator in the building. They snuck in with myself and some luggage. After glaring at me I smiled sweetly and said ¨Hola." I then explained that I was a student and we were moving in. After listening to my poor Spanish the woman asked if I was American. Damn. Easy to spot I guess. Well now Conchinta and I are on amiable terms and if I ever need anything I can mosey on over. So obviously we´re not the worst thing that has happened to the apartment.
Finally, I´m able to load my stuff into the apartment. There´s six girls in the 4 bedroom, 1.5 bath apartment. It was just refurbished and in great condition. I share a room with Hawra Esmaeil who is originally from Kuwait. After some rearranging of the furniture and a quick shower, I pass out on my bed, while the rest of the girls explore the city a bit. I wake up with fabulous bedhead and hear that the girls have returned from their first adventure. They were pleasantly surprised to find that right next to the door to our apartment is a liquor store and I walked into the living room to find them toasting with a local brand of wine. I joined in after putting some decent clothes on and eradicating my messy hair. We finished preparing for our first night out and then meet our entire group (minus Nick Valentino who wouldn´t arrive until Saturday) at studio.
Trying not to be ridiculously loud and obviously American, we followed our two professors to a small restaurant a few blocks away tucked behind a market. We were shown an upstairs private room, probably to 
keep us away from the more mild mannered guests. Eric´s wife, Adrian, joined us and we begin bonding over sangria and ¨pan con tomato,¨a toasted bread with oil that is smeared with tomato. Adrian made us practice our Spanish by introducing each other to her. We laughed as we stumbled through our ¨mucho gustos¨and ¨encantandos.¨Christy, knowing the most Spanish, ordered for all of us. We shared family style, sampling a local fish that I didn´t catch the name of, sausage over roasted vegetables, and pieya, a popular Spanish rice dish with squid, chicken and mussels.
Stacey Carbone, one of my current roommates, fought sleep the entire meal, truly entertaining. By the end of the meal most of the group was feeling the time difference. We left the restaurant ready to sleep and awaken in this beautiful city. We walked up Los Ramblos, past the closed down kiosks and an entrepreneurial fellow asking if I wanted any hash (legal in Barcelona btw). We showed the rest of the group our apartment before sending them on their way. After a brief surge in energy and discussion, we headed to bed.
I woke up at 5 a.m. unable to sleep. My pillow was to big and there was music coming from downstairs. I wandered into the kitchen to get a drink of water. Sipping the slightly saline tap water I looked out the window to see the glowing ¨castle¨at the top of the mountain above the city. Later we would find out that our dream home was really a basilica. The cityscape was beautiful though and I settled back to bed.
By 9:55 we were out the door to meet everyone at the studio for the beginning of our immersion day. They treated us top Dunkin Donuts, truly the pinnacle of civilization, and fruit. After scaring us with tales of pick pockets, club drugs, and general dislike for Americans, we ventured through the city with our professors as guides, pointing out stores where we could get cell phones (I´m installing Skype as soon as I get my laptop back for anyone who wants to talk), frozen food, computer repair, etc. We walked up La Rambla again and this time it was filled with performers, kiosk selling pets, flowers, foods, and trashy magazines. We wandered through the market and eventually ended up at the 4 story mega art and supply store- a Mecca for designers and artists.
After browsing we split up and Hawra and I went grocery shopping. After getting some necessities and unloading at our apartment I came back to this cute Internet hub around the corner to contact my family that I had neglected and regal my tales of Barcelona.
La Rambla!
1 comment:
Hooray!
Can't wait to read more of your adventures in Barcelona!
Hasta luego!
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